It's all about Bean!

This weekend was Bean's weekend, we planned our trips around things he could do. On Saturday it was cool and cloudy, perfect day to go to Fort Wetherill and avoid the crowds. Newport is hosting the annual Folk art festival and I was hoping to hear it from the hill, but it was hard to hear much and the wind didn't help. It was nice to get out though and the air was refreshing and there were a lot of large sailboats, enjoying the breezes.

With the weather, we had the beach to ourselves. Of course Bean was thrilled with that, he could play off leash.

This gray catbird, wanted nothing to do with us, so he went the other way.

On the way home, we stopped to watch the Osprey's flying about the cove.

And the Lotus flowers were in bloom in our town, so I had to stop to enjoy those.

On Sunday we took him to his Aunt Natalie's house. She has beach access on her road, and it is a great place for all of us to go swimming. Bean can swim, but he avoids it, at all costs.

He is getting braver with the higher water and waves. And of course he loves to show off. His water walking skills......

And his high jump, acrobatics.

I hope you enjoyed following us along on our weekend fun. Today was clean up day and yard work, then it is some me time, I need to get back to creating again and have a few projects in the works for this week.

Wool Dying!

This week I decided to start going through my thrift wools and do some dying. I have a lot of dyes still and I need to use them, so I started with some of the open ones and over dyed a few colors.

Here is the first batch. I was going to go with the pink and do a darker rose shade to mottle them, but I ended up with a muddy color and grabbed some tans to use it on. I like having a lot of variations in darker colors for backgrounds and animals, so they will work great for those. The pink is more of a peachy hue, but it will be nice for flowers or brighter folk art.

Today I tried some mixed textures along with a red plaid. All thrift wools, I have been collecting for years. It didn't come out exactly like I planned but still nice colors. The darkers are always good for buildings and backgrounds and the plaid is more a darker,  purple/red shade and I think it will make a nice halloween background.

Here is the before photo.

And how they look after, not too sure on the plaid, seems a bit scratchy so maybe not 100% wool, but still usable. I also like using wools like that for backgrounds on wool projects and also great for pillows.

I still have lots of go, so a bit at a time. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Camping!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, we had a nice time, though the weather was not very cooperative. Sunday was nice, then rain most of the day Monday and today was cool.

We had a nice site, right on the water with our own access to the water. Bean spent all his time watching the water until we took him down.

It was the perfect place for him, he could play off leash and we didn't have to worry about other people being around. Looking back to camp.

We also played at the main beach, more room for us to swim and Bean loves to play there.

I love taking my little sit on in the cove and going around the banks, the trees are filled with birds and beautiful flowers mixed in with lush greenery.

The clouds were coming in that night, but we enjoyed a golden sunset, before the clouds took over.

Monday we woke up to rain, but it was nice to sit under the tarp while we had breakfast and tea. Then we went home and took a hot soak and took care of a few things. The wind was too heavy to paddle, so we took a nice walk around different sections of the camp.

This morning we went out to get coffee and took a ride to a nearby boat launch. Bill played with Bean while I took photos. Lots of birds flying and getting the catch of the day, I guess it was worms today.

It was cool today with gusty winds, so it was the perfect day to go for a hike. We took the trail from the back of the camp, to another trail called Kettle pond. It took us to a Wildlife center that had a nicely stoned trail to a wooden tower. It is also wheelchair accessable.

The views were wonderful, from Ninigret pond, the East Beach banks and out to Block Island. When we got back, I took a rest and was able to do another short paddle around the cove, a nice way to end our mini vacation.

Working on!

I haven't done a lot the last week, way too hot to do much, even with the air on. I have been working on my stitchery from Kathy Schmitz. It is large, so lots of work but it is a fun project to work on and relaxing.

I decided to add some color, not sure who I will gift it to yet, but I like a change from all black, so some red, gold, a bit of brown and a pop of blue for the birds, is what I am thinking. I put my initials on, but I can get rid of that when I do the rest and then I can erase it with water.

I have been watching the local campground for openings and found one for this week, right on the water. The bad thing is, we can't get in until Sunday and only able to stay a few days, but that is good, since I just want to get away and relax and that is the perfect place. The other bad thing is, they are talking rain on monday, so I am hoping it is a quick shower or heads in another direction.

I guess the local camp is special to me since I have been going there since I was little. There were less camp sites and less people in those days. I loved the water, that is me, standing in the water with my sister swimming next to me and the others are coming in.

When Billy was old enough, I went camping with him in a little tent, with my parents. All I needed was something to sleep in, my mom did all the cooking. We also took my nephew and he was great with Billy. Sadly all my old photos seems to be going blurry, I guess I better scan them in, before they are gone.

And of course we took the kids, this is a montage of different years. They loved camping and swimming here since it is shallow at the beach, just right for the little ones. This time it will be just Bill and me and of course Bean. Bean loves it here too, he can go swimming and paddling with us, his favorite things to do. Since we are on the water, he can play anytime he wants, while we relax. We plan on going until Tuesday night, so I may not be posting until I get back, it will depend on the rain, on Monday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Parties and Paddling!

This weekend the kids had their belated party. It was fun to spend time with the family and friends and see the boys having lots of fun. Alex was more interested in smashing his cake than eating it and Nick was having fun watching him make a big mess.

Even though we got Nick a present, I wanted to get him something to open. The problem was, we got a cheap scooter and when Bill went to put it together, he realized it was a returned item and basically junk. So, we spent half the day running around, trying to find another scooter with double wheels. Nick loved the new scooter and much better since he can ride it on the grass or road and not have it fall apart. We took it easy on Alex, since he could care less, he got a talking bear and a new outfit.

Alex had his first pizza and Nick was having fun jumping in the bounce house and riding his new scooter.

On Sunday we went to my sister in law's to paddle. It was nice since we could park at her house and paddle from the beach at the end of the road. Much better than fighting for a space at the boat launches and no crowds. We hit the water when the wind shifted, so we were paddling against the incoming tide, winds and huge waves from all the larger boats, but it was fun. I love riding the waves and on the way back, we got to do some surfing.

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed paddling towards the Newport Bridge, though I couldn't make it all the way, we just enjoyed the fresh air and the scenery. The nice thing is, when we got back, we could go for a nice swim and relax our stiff muscles. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Friday Foible!

I have been doing the blocks for Words of Wisdom by Suzy's Sitcom. They are fun to do and I made mine smaller, which I wish I had made slightly larger. Since I made so many, I am just keeping them small, and hoping with some sashing, it will make a nice lap quilt size.

I finished the latest one and took a photo. That is when I noticed the difference in color, duh. I used dark red on this one and the others are a brighter red. So, maybe I will have to do another one, or maybe I will keep the darker one in, maybe make another one or two in dark so I can mix them up, what do you think?

Here are the blocks, all together. I will have to go through my stash and find a red print to go with them. The newest block looks darker than it actually is, I haven't washed out the blue marker yet and the flash focused on the others.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. The boys are finally getting their birthday party tomorrow, so we will be celebrating that and Sunday, hoping to get out for some paddling.

Punch Needle Finish!

I have been in a punch needle mood and finished another piece. This one I made into a pillow, so it is finished, the other still needs to have a board made to fit it and some nail hooks for keys. This is also a pattern by Primitive Spirits.

I am using what I have in my scrap box and with this one, went a little vintage with some pops of color. I do wish I could get photos to get better colors, it seems a bit bright on my screen. This one was also antiqued with walnut, and the flash just washes it out.

The original pattern was smaller and done in 3 strands, I enlarged mine and used 6 strands.

Since I was stuck home this weekend, the kids came over to do a yard sale. The bad thing was, I had no time to get ready, so just threw out some larger items and what I could grab. Now I can only have one more, so not until I get the basement cleaned and all the items together. My son sat out and he is great at getting me better prices, so I sold a few things and made a little spending money.

While the kids sat out in the hot sun, I got to enjoy time with the boys. Alex is full of personality and such a happy guy, he was content to play by himself, but of course, I took him out and played with him most of the time.

Nick and Bean kept each other busy, Nick loves Bean and Bean loves Nick, they are so cute together. I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Friday Finish and Fun on the Fourth!

I hope everyone had a good week and a fun holiday. We went low key, stayed home for the weekend and spent the fourth with my Sister in Law. I did manage to finish one project, a new stitchery from the One stitch club, by Kathy Schmitz.

I decided to put my rustic birdhouse on a shelf and thought this design would be a nice piece to go with it. I made it into a pillow and antiqued it to match the feeling of the birdhouse. The stitchery club is fun to do, one design a month and they work up quickly.

We did have a nice time at the party. My SIL has access to the beach, so I was able to go for a nice swim and enjoy some time with Nick at the beach. He loves throwing rocks and he got soaked when the waves got him a few times, but seeing him laugh and get excited at things he sees, always brings joy to my day.

I also spent time with Alex, and he has become much more social, and he seems to be such a happy little guy, I am blessed with them both.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with joy and adventure. Bill has to work all weekend and my son wants to do a yard sale in my yard, so I may throw some  junk out and start cleaning out the basement.

Monday makings!

This week I got a surprise from a friend, a box of goodies and lots of patterns to work on. I was in the mood to make something new and the punch needle patterns were just what I needed. I made up two and finished this one today.

I plan on leaving it flat and attaching it to a wood board with nail pegs, to hang the keys on, at the front door area. It is a pattern by Primitive Spirits. I was lazy and took phone photos, so not the best, but I will take a better one when I finish it off.

With the holiday weekend, we didn't get out, way too many people headed to the beach and way too many accidents. It was a good weekend to get our backsplash in. I didn't want to do anything too permanent since we plan on adding an island in the future and also nicer counter tops, for now we just got stock counters which Bill was able to put in himself. The backsplash is fake tin, and easy to put it. They come in large squares so fit our area perfectly and the ones we had to size, cut with a razor knife and we put them on with heavy, double backed rug tape. So much better than the ugly walls and when we are  ready to redo the kitchen, easy to pull off.

I went with tin, the copper was darker and a bit busy, and our kitchen is small, so this was lighter. I hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July. Our neighbors are shooting off fireworks and poor Bean is hiding under the table.